1. Tesi: Heinz, you are the owner and chef of the restaurant Steiereck in Vienna / Austria. Can you please tell me about the concept, the idea, and background of your restaurant?

Heinz: I run the Steiereck together with my wife, Birgit, and a great team. Our kitchen is not philosophical but rather a reflection of the seasons, the ingredients, and the people who work with me. At Steirereck, we try to display nature and the seasons in the most beautiful light for our patrons.

2. Tesi: Do you remember the dish or menu you are most proud of? Please describe this menu, the feedback from your guests, and how you were inspired to create it.

Heinz: To break this down to a single inspiration is simply not possible. We want to take on a new challenge through the best of the ingredients that nature offers us every time we create a menu. Each guest has his own personal favourite dish that he finds praiseworthy or worthy of mention.

3. Tesi: Let’s assume for a minute that I would buy you a flight to any location on this planet but I would only give you €20 to buy the ingredients for a dinner with a good friend. Where would you fly, and which ingredients would you buy?

Heinz: It would have to be a very peaceful and fertile place. I would buy a variety of seeds because ultimately we reap what we sow and not only in agriculture.

4. Tesi: Please describe Austrian cuisine and what you think is unique about it.

Heinz: Austrian cuisine is created from the merger of many countries and cultures who originally belonged to Austria. Today it is our duty to lead this kitchen into a new era. We have an impressive agriculture in Austria. Small farms give us an incredible selection of regional – and very often almost forgotten – products and supplies. Using of all these products truly characterizes Austrian cuisine.

Heinz: Good food should be our constant companion. Who wouldn’t like good food? With a good, balanced meal a basic satisfaction settles on us. But, we can also eat something that suddenly puts us in a different room or a different time, and thereafter we crave this unique taste. Ultimately, we are constantly in search of food that touches us emotionally, and this is the essence of our work.

Only a few months earlier, on January 1, 1970, his parents opened the Steirereck at the corner of Weißgerberlände & Rasumofskygasse. Drawing on their origins, from the day the restaurant opened you could enjoy typical Styrian delicacies there.

Over the years, Heinz Reitbauer had an intense education in gastronomy and developed a great passion for cooking. After completion of the Hotel School in Altötting / Bavaria, he began a cooking apprenticeship in the family business. After a year, Heinz joined the Brothers Obauer and there completed his apprenticeship.

When his apprenticeship was done, Heinz took the opportunity to work with Alain Chapel in Mionnay in Lyon. Alain Chapel was one of the first 3 Michelin star chefs in France and was considered a pioneer of "Nouvelle Cuisine."

One year later, Heinz continued his international experience working with Anton Mosimann in London, followed by internships at Joel Robuchon & Laurent in Paris.

In 1992, Heinz returned to his hometown Turnau, where he took a key role in the family business “Pogusch”. After three years of planning and construction, the pub Steirereck opened at the Pogusch Inn in May 1996, where Heinz served as chef from the start.

The kitchen line by Heinz reflects the respect and appreciation of the food and has acquired its own identity, featuring its own regional agriculture. Heinz has developed this identity by seeking continual moments of surprise through meticulous attention and a joy of discovery for previously unknown or almost forgotten ingredients. Together with the people and agriculture, the Pogusch Inn and the region is a magnet for those seeking relaxation. The kitchen of the pub Steirereck was awarded 2 toques by Gault Millau, and in 1999, Heinz received the Trophée Gourmet for Austrian cuisine.

In 2001, his parents handed over the management of Steirereck to Heinz. In 2002, the family bought a dairy farm, a former milk-pump room in the City of Vienna, in the city park. With the acquisition and conversion of the dairy farm, Heinz and his wife relocated in January 2005 from Pogusch to Vienna. Since the Spring of 2005, Heinz has been chef at the city park, energetically supported by his sous chef Oliver Charles Lucas and a 30-strong support brigade.